Linux Top 3: SUSE, Sabayon 10 and Amazon on Ubuntu

1) Ubuntu Goes Shopping on Amazon

One of the biggest controversies to erupt on the Linux Planet in recent weeks is Canonical’s decision to integrate Amazon results into Ubuntu.

In the upcoming Ubuntu 12.10 release, Amazon results will be integrated in the Dash home lenses. While that might imply that Amazon is placing ads directly onto users’ Ubuntu desktop, Mark Shuttleworth argues otherwise.

“We’re not putting ads in Ubuntu,” Shuttleworth wrote in a blog post. “We’re integrating online scope results into the home lens of the dash….These are not ads because they are not paid placement, they are straightforward Amazon search results for your search.”

Shuttleworth goes on to note in response to the over 100 comments on this blog that his Linux distribution is not trying to out-Google Google.

“If you want to search the web, it’s best to hit Google in your browser-of-choice,” Shuttleworth commented. “The Dash is for ‘things’, like Apps, or stuff from Amazon.” Shuttleworth also stressed that by including the Amazon Dash lense results, Ubuntu user data is not at risk.

“We’re not selling your data or interests or social graph,” Shuttleworth commented. “Personally I don’t use Facebook because that sort of thing is distasteful, but I’m pretty confident we can make Ubuntu fantastic without doing what they do.”

2) New Manager for SUSE, New Management for openSUSE

SUSE had a busy week last week as well. The Linux vendor held its SUSEcon event in Florida debut a new management product and new management for the openSUSE project as well.

SUSE Manager 1.7 is the newest release of the company’s Linux server management technology. SUSE Manager is built on top of the open source Spacewalk effort that started off as a Red Hat led effort. SUSE Manager aims to manage Linux servers including SUSE Linux, openSUSE as well as Red Hat based distributions.

Also during SUSEcon, SUSE announced a new Board Chair for the openSUSE project. Vincent Untz takes over from Allan Clark. Clark is now the Chair of the new OpenStack Foundation. Untz has been active in the freedesktop.org community as well as the GNOME Foundation.

“I am pleased to be part of the openSUSE board to serve the community,” Untz said in a statement “Right now, we are at an inflection point: Our rapid growth has resulted in many discussions about how to work better together. This is an exciting time to be part of openSUSE. I am looking forward to serving the community.”

3) Sabayon Linux 10

While not quite as well known as Ubuntu or SUSE, Sabayon Linux has its own flavor and dedicated following. Sabayon started off as an effort to make Gentoo Linux more consumable and it has evolved over the years to be a respectable distribution in its own right.

One of the new additions in Sabayon 10 is the full integration of the MATE GNOME 2 fork

“Many people wanted GNOME 2 back and there you have it!” the Sabayon 10 release announcementstates. “We are more than happy to serve MATE to all our users and officially support it starting from now.”

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